Cuomo to Testify to Congress on Nursing Home Deaths During Pandemic

Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has agreed to testify publicly next week before a congressional subcommittee to face questions about the thousands of deaths that occurred in the state’s nursing homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr. Cuomo is scheduled to testify at a hearing on Sept. 10, according to the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

“Andrew Cuomo owes answers to the 15,000 families who lost loved ones in New York’s nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Representative Brad Wenstrup, Republican of Ohio and the subcommittee’s chairman, said in a statement. “On Sept. 10, Americans will finally have the opportunity to hear directly from the governor about these potentially fatal nursing home policies.”

It will be the second time in recent months that Mr. Cuomo will face questioning by House Republicans. After receiving a subpoena, he testified in June for seven hours behind closed doors.

A transcript of that testimony has yet to be released, but lawmakers said they pressed Mr. Cuomo about a March 25, 2020, directive from the state’s Health Department that required nursing homes to accept coronavirus patients from hospitals. The disease spread rapidly through the nursing homes, resulting in more than 15,000 deaths by June 2021.

During his closed-door testimony, Mr. Wenstrup said, Mr. Cuomo was “shockingly callous” and showed “little remorse for the thousands of lives lost.”

Mr. Cuomo told reporters outside the deposition that he believed blame should be directed at the Trump administration for its handling of the pandemic, not at his leadership in New York.

“I think the federal government failed this nation, and it was abysmal,” Mr. Cuomo said. “How did Covid get to the United States in December and nobody knew? How did it take so many months before we had testing — basic testing — in place? How did you have a president of the United States running around saying it’s going to be gone when the weather gets warm?”

He argued the state’s Health Department had followed guidance from federal officials.

“If I knew then what I know now, I would have told my Department of Health: ‘Don’t listen to the federal government. They don’t know what they’re talking about,’” Mr. Cuomo told reporters.

A state-commissioned report recently criticized Mr. Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic, but did not fault him for the nursing home deaths. The report said nursing home deaths in New York were largely consistent with national outcomes.

The subcommittee has also conducted transcribed interviews with at least a half-dozen high-ranking Cuomo administration officials.